Some Elgar to treasure from Britain’s queen of the Strad.

Sheku’s Elgar sees him filling some very big shoes indeed.

Elgar’s court of King Caractacus is just passing by Brexit Britain.

Davis pays homage to the dreamers and the Glorious Dead.

The British filmmaker's composer portraits for the BBC are Limelight's Recording of the Month in August.

Scenes from a life x3: A trio of British composers are reborn in masterly, moving documentaries.

Kate Moore will be the orchestra’s composer-in-residence, with two of her major works to be premiered.

Lukáš Vondráček nailed every facet of Prokofiev's Third Piano Concerto, while John Wilson led a dignified, stirring rendition of Elgar's Second Symphony.

Sir Andrew Davis’s fat knight offers all the requisite swagger.

Five in harmony as FS Kelly joins the Brits.

Matheson and Neave deliver pathos, irony and eye-twinkling humour in this musical biography of the famed resistance fighter.

Every British conductor worth his or her salt has recorded the symphony, as have Solti, Barenboim, Slatkin, Ashkenazy and Sinopoli. The trick with Elgar, especially in this symphony, is to avoid lugubriousness and Gardner manages well getting the piece off to a quiet and measured start. The transition from the well-performed Scherzo into the slow movement is handled perfectly. However, after listening to Barbirolli’s beautifully nuanced recording, the ordinariness of this newcomer is clear. Sir John’s is the one to beat. Of the other performances I sampled all were of a very high standard. There is Boult, of course, and a splendid version from Mackerras and the LSO; he gets great feeling into the noblimente theme. Then there is the remarkable recording Colin Davis made with the Dresden Staatskapelle in 1997. The power of the German orchestra, its heft and discipline, is remarkable and it blows the competition out of the water. In this field, a new recording must stand tall and this one is a bit average. The Introduction and Allegro is long recognised as a virtuoso piece for string orchestra and there are no shortages of… Continue reading Get unlimited digital access from $4 per month Subscribe Already…